The Saotome's Misadventures
by Edrik
Summary: The day Genma tried to take Ranma on his extended training trip Nodoka puts her foot down and has her way with her wayward husband. So little Ranma starts his journey later...
1. Not if I can Help it!

November 11, 2011

Not if I can help it!

Nodoka Saotome woke up for what seemed the twentieth time that night. She quickly gave the other side of the bed a brief inspection. After lightly prodding around and feeling the warmth of the other human being who was allowed to share her bed her body relaxed and once again her mind wandered back to the argument she had the previous night with her husband, Genma.

-.-

It wasn't that she hated Genma, or else she would have never forsaken her family in order to marry the man that now currently shared her bed. She just didn't agree with him spontaneously packing up and taking their only son on a long extended training trip. It wasn't exactly spontaneous since her husband _had_ given her some type of warning even before they were officially married. He had mentioned to her on one of their dates that he wanted a male heir to his Anything Goes School of Martial Arts branch and he wanted to go on an extended training trip with his son in order to fully learn what it meant to be a practitioner of the Saotome branch of Anything Goes martial arts. What he _did_ fail to mention was that he had planned to take their first son on that training trip before he was even three! He _also_ failed to mention that she would not be coming along on that trip!

Now Nodoka was usually a calm, collected, dutiful-wife, but Genma's latest suggestions were outrageous! She just wouldn't not, could not allow Genma to take their son on such a long extended trip without herself there to guide the both of them, she could not bear to leave her 2 year-old son for such a long time. She usually kept her cool under any circumstance, even when she was aware of her husband's 'extracurricular activities' with the master, although they did try her patience at times. She knew perfectly well that her husband was passionate about his art that was one of the reasons she fell in love with the man as well. She respected him as both a martial artist and as her husband so she rarely opposed him in any subject, but when he sprung that ridiculous announcement that he was taking little Ranma on that promised training trip a few days prior to his second birthday, the dam holding together the perfect housewife just broke…

The night before Ranma's birthday was a tense one in the Saotome home. The neighbors nearby already knew things were edgy between the married couple for the past week Genma had tried to persuade his wife to let him take little Ranma on that training trip he promised. Nodoka, uncharacteristically was being rebellious and stubbornly against the idea.

"Look No-chan, I promise to visit with Ranma every 3 months, just let me take him first thing tomorrow-morning so I can start his training." Genma pleaded with his stubborn wife.

"Why does he have to start now?" Usually Nodoka wouldn't put up more than a token of resistance with Genma when those rare occasions broke out where they both disagreed on something, "For god's sake Genma, he's barely going to be 2 years-old! What could you possibly teach him at such a young age that you couldn't do here at home?"

Genma had his reasons of course, but it wasn't like he could just tell her, _because I don't want him babied around by you and because I will do things you probably will not approve of._ "Because that's the age I started training in the art so I am only following tradition. You know how important tradition is No-chan."

Of course Nodoka knew how important tradition was, being brought up in a wealthy traditional family had hammered that into her head, if anything else. Even so, she just couldn't stand the thought of not seeing Ranma for such a long time and if it came down to it she would break any tradition for her son. "To hell with tradition!"

That stunned Genma in mid-retort. Nodoka as well seemed to have stopped her argument and contemplate on what she had just said, that last remark had not been meant to be voiced out loud, yet it had. The most surprising part was that even though in normal circumstances she would never have said something as obscene as that, she didn't regret saying at that moment.

The silence was finally broken by Genma, "Alright Nodoka, what if I promised on my honor that I would bring Ranma back as a man-amongst-men or else we would both commit seppuku.

Nodoka almost caved in right then and there if it weren't that something inside of her stopped her from uttering the words of agreement that, unknowingly, would seal her son's fate by condemning him to years of torture, abandonment, emotional trauma, and scarring for life. But because she refused her husband's pledge she would forever change the way Ranma would be brought up in this world.

He was certain that Nodoka would have dropped her resistance the instance he proposed the seppuku pledge. The only reason he hadn't suggested it before was because it came as a risk to himself too. After all, Genma Saotome never went back on his promises…at least not when they counted anyway. He had made the proposal with the full intention of honoring it not knowing what exactly could prevent him from fulfilling it. Knowing his wife she would also feel honor-bound to let him go, but something had gone wrong; terribly wrong if Nodoka had refused such a pledge…

The argument had gone on for hours into the night, until finally it seemed that Genma had gave in and accepted that maybe it _was_ too early for Ranma to start his training. Of course that didn't mean both parties had kissed and made up, they had both went their separate ways Genma had left their son, who by that time had finally stopped crying from all the yelling and arguing, with Nodoka while he raided their liquor stash. Nodoka had been adamant on keeping little Ranma close to her, preferably in her arms, as possible just in case Genma had any second thoughts about taking their son without her permission.

Eventually they both went to bed, Nodoka making sure that Genma had gone to bed with her in order to keep an eye on him and Ranma at the same time.

-.-

Once again she checked the space next to her to make sure her husband was there, feeling the big bulge under the covers she let her body relax again. She cast her gaze over to where Ranma's crib was and smiled, although she had nothing against Ranma learning the family school of martial arts she just couldn't stand the thought of losing her only son if something were to happen to him while on his travels with his father, not that she didn't trust her husband, she would trust him with her and their child's life anytime, but she just couldn't shake the feeling that something could go wrong in their travels while she wasn't there.

Thinking of her son, she threw back the covers and slipped on a light blue robe over her half-nude body and made her way to where Ranma slept.

As she got closer she noticed something odd about the way Ranma's silhouette, one thing she noticed right away was that the part that should be the chest wasn't moving-she quickened her pace.

Immediately she uncovered what she thought was Ranma's sleeping form and found out that it was nothing more than a baby doll turned her way with a creepy-permanent smile facing her. It felt like something out of a horror movie, she gasped and quickly ran to their bed to make sure Genma was still there. For all appearances it indeed looked like he was still sleeping, but as soon as she threw the covers off she realized that what she had touched earlier in her inspection was a punching dummy wrapped in thick covers, probably acquired from the attic, and a rubber ball on top of the pillow to give the illusion of a head. She almost screamed then and there, instead she ran down the hall quickly looking into every room for her son.

After looking through every inch inside the house and not finding any sign of either her son or husband she started to panic. There was no way her husband could have ran away with their child could there? She had married an honorable man after all, there was no way he could abandon her like that could he?

Figuring that standing there having second thoughts about her marriage wasn't going to find her son she ran out the back door into their backyard without even bothering with her current state of dress. Knowing her husband and his methods, he would never leave through the front door if he was doing something he wasn't supposed to. Her suspicions proved to be right as she distinctly saw a man carrying a huge sack on his back walking rapidly to the wall that separated the Saotome property from the rest of the neighborhood. She immediately knew that was Genma, her current state of mind did not allow her to think otherwise.

She screamed at the man, "Genma Saotome! Give me back my son!" Her muscles tensed as she prepared to sprint across their vast backyard.

Genma was just getting thinking of his wife and what she would think while heading for the wall that separated their property from the next door neighbors when he heard the chilling scream from his wife. _I should have used a bigger dose!_ He knew there was a risk of her waking up in the middle of his operation so he had drugged his wife with a bit of some sleeping drug he had come across in his travels with the old master. Knowing that his plan to escape with Ranma during the night was in jeopardy, without looking back he made haste for the wall.

In any other situation Genma would have easily outran his wife, but not this time. Nodoka was no slacker when it came to her physical fitness and while she wasn't at the physical level Genma was in terms of speed she did have several advantages at the moment. Her body was tensed and pumped full of adrenalin that helped her achieve speeds she normally couldn't push herself to do, and Genma was weighted down by all the equipment he was carrying on his back along with Ranma in his arms. So it was a surprise when Nodoka caught up to Genma and tackled him to the floor.

As soon as she was close enough she leapt onto Genma's back with no regard as to the repercussions of her actions.

Luckily for her Genma was an accomplished martial artist and since his school revolved around aerial maneuvers, with some effort he was able to spin in mid-fall so that he landed on his side instead of face first into the grass and crushing his son under the combined weight of himself, the equipment on his back, and his wife.

Nodoka was thrown a foot or two to the side from the spin, she too was able to control her own fall so that she landed on her hands and knees instead of her back in order to sprint after Genma in a moment's notice. Once she saw that Genma had twisted in midair just in time as to land on his side instead of on their son she lessened her aggressive stance a bit and thanked god that her impulsive action didn't hurt their baby.

From Genma's point of view his wife looked like a savage woman ready to pounce on her prey. He also noted that she looked stunning half kneeling-squatting on her hands and knees with her hair tangled with some grass and running wild all over her face. She had also apparently forgotten, or rather neglected, to put on some additional clothes in order to preserve her modesty because not only did she look like someone raised in the wild, but she also forgot to put on a bra in her haste to find Ranma. Her robe had come undone from the flimsy silk belt that came attached to it, she only wore her crimson red panties and her light blue robe, which was also a bit messy from rolling in the grass a bit. Overall it brought a smile to his face just seeing his wife in her current state, he must have been smiling on the outside too because the glare that he was receiving from Nodoka intensified. Finally it was Nodoka who broke the silent staring contest, "Genma Saotome what do you think you are doing? I thought we agreed that Ranma was not going _anywhere_ without me or my permission!"

The exclamation seemed to have broken Genma out of his ardor thoughts, "N-No-chan! I was just taking Ranma to his early birthday gift! We were going to see the full moon by the park."

Nodoka was many things, but stupid wasn't one of them. She knew perfectly well that Genma was lying, she just couldn't believe how blatantly obvious he was being and to be honest it pissed her off. "Genma if you want to play games with me fine! I never thought it would come to this, but we're through!"

It shocked him that his wife would say something like that. Even if he _was_ trying to take Ranma without her knowing it wasn't as if he was planning on leaving and never seeing her again! He just wanted what was best for the boy and he _needed_ to train the boy away from his mother or else he would grow soft. "Now No-chan t-there's no reason for such a drastic action-"

"Give me one good reason why I should not call for help and get the police involved in this? Give me _one_ reason why I shouldn't call my father and have you arrested for child kidnapping?" If had stopped and thought about what to say first she would have realized that she didn't mean what she said, yet she was angrier than she had ever been in her life; angrier than even the day her mother disowned her for marrying a man she did not approve of, she wasn't just angry, she was _pissed_. There was nothing Genma could say or do in her eyes that could possibly salvage their relationship at that point.

He didn't know what to do, he hadn't expected things to go so out of control to begin with. Hell, she was supposed to have agreed to let him take Ranma on the training trip for sure after he had proposed the seppuku pledge! To make matters worse little Ranma had started crying because of all the yelling, it was amazing that he hadn't shed one tear while he was running away to begin with.

The threat about calling her father really scared him the most. He had met the man on several occasions and he didn't need to look very hard to know right away that the man absolutely hated him. Just as much as he loved the art with a passion, the man who called himself Nodoka's father hated him with just as much passion…maybe even more… He had married his esteemed and only daughter after all, even against the threat of a whole noble clan raining legal hell upon him, so it was no surprise that if Nodoka did indeed call her father for help he would indeed help, if not for his daughter than to simply have a reason to get at the man who stole his precious only daughter from him. With the clan's resources there would be no place for him to hide, the only reason he hadn't been harmed before was because he was the husband of the only Himura heiress and it would be very bad for public image to take action against the wishes of the only Himura heiress. But if she _wanted_ him taken care of there would be no place he could hide from them.

The sound of barking dogs and strange, yet familiar, voices interrupted his fear-induced thoughts. He hadn't even noticed that his wife had gone on a tirade cursing and condemning his name, of course he summed that up as blind rage…surely she didn't mean some of those things?

Well he tried, really he did, but there was no way he was going to have Nodoka's whole clan breathing down his neck for the rest of his life. So he did the one thing that he knew would quite his wife and hopefully stop her tirade. He walked up to her and ignored her aggressive stance even as her muscles tensed in preparation for a fight. By the time he was right in front of her she had stopped yelling and was torn between attacking him and looking at Ranma in his arms. He knew she wouldn't try anything as long as he held their son in his arms so he outstretched his arms while holding Ranma, clearly offering her the child.

Nodoka snatched her son from her, soon to be ex, husband and glared at the man she once called her soul mate. As soon as she had her son safely in her arms she shifted him onto her left arm and aimed a slap to Genma's face.

Genma saw the slap coming a mile away, but wisely chose to ignore it and let her vent some of her anger on him. He could have easily knocked her incoming hand away, but he figured that this was one of those times where it would serve more than just to hurt him, it would serve as a therapeutic action. So instead of making any move to stop his wife he closed his eyes and waiting for the pain on his cheek. What he wasn't expecting was to be slapped several times on the face, kicked in the right shin and stomach, and punched in an uppercut right below the chin.

He took the beating without so much as a grunt, he knew he deserved it and it would help him in the long run when trying to talk her out of divorcement. Her attacks hurt a bit, but nothing a martial artist of his caliber couldn't handle so he continued to keep his eyes closed it helped restraining years of conditioned counterattacks his body was itching to execute. He could hear pant, scream, and grunt in frustration knowing that for all her efforts she wasn't really hurting him, then he felt her stop. Deciding that maybe she was done venting he counted from ten to one slowly in his mind to help him relax and focus on his next move, he was at 4 when suddenly his danger sense screamed at him to _move_. His eyes snapped open instantaneously and tracked her foot coming straight for his privates. Being the high caliber martial artists he was and not wanting to experience the kind of pain his wife so obviously wanted him to feel he let his body dodge…or at least that's what he thought is what would happen. Instead his body decided that wife or no wife, remorseful or not, there was no way it was going to let an attempt at hurting the most vulnerable place known to man be abused the way his wife clearly planned to, if the look on her eyes was anything to go by.

Quickly Genma caught the offending foot with his right hand and swung his wife with the momentum she had built onto the grass. What would have been a very nasty slam against the ground turned into a small toss as Genma quickly caught up with his traitorous body and acted fast by first snatching Ranma from his wife's arms and then, as her foot was still raised up in the air like a soccer player doing a bicycle kick, grabbed her from the torso with one arm and twisted in the air so that he landed on his back with her facing him on top and little Ranma safely held on the other outstretched arm.

Just as Nodoka was about to say something they both heard whistling and clapping followed by a "You go Saotome!"

Both Saotomes turned to the wall separating their property from the next and found their neighbor laughing and giving them both a look of approval.

Suddenly Nodoka's anger and was derailed and slammed to the back of her head and for the first time throughout the night she became self-conscious of her state of dress. Faster than anyone could see she rolled off Genma, flashing their neighbor both her breast and her underwear in the process, and fumbled with the silk belt on her robe.

A second head popped up from the wall and asked, "what's going on Banjiro?"

"Oh nothing honey, just the Saotomes having a bit of kinky fun on their backyard. Eh Saotome? You lucky dog you! You both were making out like animals! We could hear your screams of excitement all the way over here." The one known as Banjiro laughed with a look of approval for the both.

The woman looked over the pair with a devilish grin on her face, "Oh really? Well don't let us ruin your 'private' fun time now." She turned to Nodoka who had managed to cover herself up before the woman showed up. "You might want to keep it down Saotome-san, I doubt anyone else heard, but you wouldn't want anyone sneaking a peak at you making out like animals would you eh?"

Nodoka was burning red with embarrassment at that last remark with all traces of anger gone from her features. She made eye contact with her neighbor and friend Momoko and politely answered, "We weren't doing anything…indecent Kawasaki-san…We were just having an…" She looked at Genma, but couldn't muster a glare or even a disapproving look for him due to her embarrassment, "…argument."

"Sure, sure honey." Momoko said with more than a trace of sarcasm to her voice, "You're both a married couple there's no need to hide it, quite frankly I think little Ranma there would love a brother or sister to play with! Why, why not give him both! Hahahaha"

Genma, who had gotten up and was holding Ranma, asked, "Can we have some privacy Banjiro?" Raising his eyebrows in a suggestive way, he got along with the middle-aged man quite well so he wasn't as embarrassed as Nodoka to be caught in a compromising position by his neighbor. Quite frankly he was glad for the distraction as one look towards his wife revealed that, at least for the moment, she was way more embarrassed by the situation than angry at him.

"Yeah, yeah Saotome we get it. You just wanna get back at making out with the lady. Like the wife said though, try to keep it down will ya? Some of us got work tomorrow!" With that the woman known as Momoko turned away and climbed down out of sight.

Banjiro turned back to Genma and said, "You're one lucky man Saotome." Then looked at Nodoka, "I would say at least 34C's and nice choice in underwear Saotome-san" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Nodoka smiled nervously and blushed even harder knowing that her neighbor saw her breast. The only man she would ever show them to was her husband…speaking of husband. She quickly turned to see if her wayward husband had made an escape, but was surprised to see him instead playing with their son standing there as if their previous argument hadn't happened.

She was about to berate Genma when they heard from the other side of the wall, "See honey why can't we do something wild like that? Did you see Saotome-san? She looked wiiiild!"

Instead of the insults that were threatening to come out another fierce blush overtook her.

They heard the female Kawasaki retort, "Because unlike them who get along very well _honey_ you are a pervert!"

Nodoka was ready to drop dead of embarrassment right then and there. There was no way she could live this down! She didn't care if she had to move right after moving in three years ago, she couldn't live with herself knowing that the next door neighbors thought of her as a sex-crazy woman.

Surprisingly it was Genma who broke the long awkward silence, "Come one No-chan let's go home before someone else sees us" She eagerly nodded her agreement without a word she followed him inside.

-.-

Once inside Genma again took the initiative, "No-chan I know that you are mad at me for trying to take Ranma on the training trip, but this is something the boy _needs_ in order to carry on the Saotome school of Anything Goes."

Though the all-consuming anger that she felt earlier when pursuing Genma was gone that didn't mean she was going to just forgive and forget just because a little incident happened to interrupt her promise for pain. "Genma I want you out of this house by tonight, I don't ever want to see you again!"

"Now hold on No-chan-" He started to explain.

"-And give me back Ranma! I don't him being defiled by such filthy hands! To think that I went against my family's wishes and married a man below my stature." She couldn't hold back the tears now that were threatening from the moment she started the argument outside. The only reason she hadn't let them flow was because her anger helped her keep them at bay. "I gave up everything for you Genma! My family, my wealth, my stature, even some of my closest friends that I knew all my life for you! I thought you were the man for me. The one who I would have children. The one who I would spend the rest of my life with as I watch my children grow old."

It hurt him to see her like that, but there was no amount of apologizing that he could do to gain her forgiveness. It made him think of what he was thinking when he went through with his plan. No he knew the culprit for his inexcusable behavior, it was the alcohol running through his veins at the time. The night before he went to bed with the resolve to try to persuade his wife on that training trip a few later, but then he had to go and get drunk…

He punched himself on the face in front of his wife. He was so stupid! _How could I go and do something like that? Am I no better than the master? May god burn his soul for all eternity…_"Nodoka, I don't know what to say or do to ever gain your forgiveness, but I swear to you I didn't mean to separate you and Ranma for ever-"

"You were going to abandon me! Who do you think would have provided for me? My parents? Did you forget that I gave everything for you? _Everything_ I married you with nothing but the clothes on my back. What do you think would have happened if you had left?" Her face was red from anger, the tears were flowing freely onto Ranma as he cried in her arms.

"I…I hadn't thought about it…it just didn't occur to me that you would be left in-" He tried to explain himself as honestly as he could, but the more he thought about it the more he realized that not only had his decision been spontaneous he hadn't even taken into consideration what would become of his wife. _Am I such a monster that I would have abandoned my wife to the wolves?_ He really had screwed up and now it was probably going to cost him marriage and his only son.

Nodoka couldn't keep Ranma from crying usually he wouldn't get upset as long as he was in her arms, but all the yelling –which was a rare thing in her household- must have been upsetting him and no amount of coaxing and shushing was going to stop him. "Genma I'll say it again, get out! I'll find a way to support myself and my son. I see that you don't care what happens to me, you just wanted me in order to produce a heir for your stupid school, a means to an end. All those sweet words, all those gifts and dates, they were just to get me in bed and produce a heir."

"Now that's not true Nodoka don't you remember why I told you I loved you? That hasn't changed. I still love you, it was just your stupid husband blinded by alcohol doing another stupid stunt. I promise you Nodoka I would never leave you! I…I-I love you! I love you as much as I love our son. I didn't marry you just to produce an heir, if that was the case don't you think I could have gotten any one of those other girls chasing Soun and me around to do the deed?" By that point Genma was also crying freely and his voice cracking with emotion as well.

Nodoka's lower lip quivered as her tears ran freely down her cheeks and onto the crying form of Ranma. "I-I want the man I married 5 years ago…The passionate man who would hold me and whisper sweet words into my ear. The man who I could be proud to call my husband, I want the man I fell in love with…" She was whispered the last words sobbing and looking at her son cry rather than making eye contact with her husband.

"I-I can be that man again! Just give me another chance No-chan-" Genma's excitement over salvaging the situation was evident in his voice.

"-Don't you 'No-chan' me! You lost the privilege of calling me that the moment you stepped out of this house this night." Her tone was cold and antagonizing.

"I'm sorry Nodoka. I can be that man again. I can change please just give me a chance." Genma pleaded between sobs as well. "Me and Soun got rid of the master I-I can change to the man I used to be, the one you fell in love with for the first time…I just needs another chance please Nodoka…" He pleaded her looking at her straight in the eyes.

"I-I want to believe you Genma, really I do, but you acted without concern over me. You practically threw me away the moment I became useless to you. How do you think I feel? Do you think I can just forgive and forget?" She managed to control her sobbing to just a few hiccups.

"…Just give me a chance Nodoka…I ask for no more than to be near my wife and child…I just need a chance to prove myself to you…"

"Do you promise to always be there for your children and myself at all costs? That you will not abandon us like you planned to do this night?" She really didn't want to lose the man she had married, but she also couldn't just forgive him. Besides she had married an honorable man and she still had a bit of faith in that man.

"I promise, I promise, oh thank you No-chan! Than-"

"I told you, you lost the right to call me that! I want you to swear Genma Saotome on your honor as a martial artist that you will _never_ do something like that again. Also swear to me that you will always support your son no matter what he does or wants to be." Her voice cracked with emotion, but she ignored it and continued. "Swear to me that no matter what happens you will never leave us both me and our children!"

At that point Genma was the happiest man alive. _I was right to marry such a kind forgiving woman!_ "Thank you, thank you Nodoka-sama! I promise. I swear on my honor as a martial artist practitioner of the Saotome branch of Anything Goes martial arts that I will never leave my family. That I will support my wife and children no matter what happens."

"You also have to stay off alcohol from now on." Nodoka managed a weak smile.

"Aw come on No-chan! You-" He stopped his complaint when he saw the weak smile that looked like took a lot of effort for Nodoka to manage turn easily into a frown of disapproval. "I mean of course _Nodoka-sama_ I will try my hardest to stay off alcohol as much as possible." He finished with a small smile of his own.

-.-

Notes: This has been ½ written for a few years now. I just finished the other half in a sort of rush to post it on the 11/11/11 for kicks. Later I'll come back and rewrite the chapter. This is just a little project I've started at my professor's urging to write _something_ to practice my writing since he made it perfectly clear that I suck at anything non-fiction…


	2. Healing and Beginnings

Started: November 26, 2011

Finished: January 1, 2012

Healing and Beginnings

The digital clock changed to 7:00 a.m., and for the twentieth-dozenth time started the persistent buzzing.

Genma slowly rose from his side of the bed, careful not to disturb his wife, and clumsily dragged himself toward the bathing room.

After discarding his clothes in the changing room he proceeded to wash himself before dunking into the furo.

While soaking he thought back to how he got himself into his current situation.

-.-

After the failed attempt at his own son's kidnapping Genma Saotome found himself in a world of trouble.

For one thing, the house payment was due 3 days after he had planned to disappear with his son. He currently couldn't pay it because he had used most of their savings on supplies for his training trip and since he had quit his previous job there was no steady income coming in to pay the rent.

To make matters worse Nodoka wouldn't let him hear the end of it. She took every chance that presented itself to remind him of his thoughtless actions. He considered it an honest to god mistake, so caught up with planning his son's training journey that the thought of his wife had slipped past him somehow. At the time he had paid it little thought, thinking that his wife could get by without him He had conveniently forgotten the _how _part of it. Honestly, he himself didn't know what he was thinking at the time, or to be more precise why he hadn't thought about his wife's wellbeing at all.

He knew there was a simple solution to it of course, to take her with him and his son. But he had abstained from that for a very good reason. Nodoka would obviously interfere with what he had planned for the boy.

He knew his wife well, obviously they would not have married if they hadn't had _some _degree of understanding for each other. Calling upon that knowledge, he had concluded that she would find most of his methods…unethical, let alone cruel and inhuman. Adding to that that their _son_ would be put through, what Nodoka would surely refer to 'hell', he was almost certain that she would divorce him on the spot at the very least, most likely though she would bring her family's wealth and connections to make sure he hung out to dry in jail for the rest of his days.

On the day the house payment was due Nodoka almost suffered a nervous breakdown. They were paid a visit by their landlord and Nodoka looked like she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

The man claimed to have been running a few errands around the neighborhood and decided to 'drop by' and save them the trouble of having to go to him for a change. Though it was an innocent enough visit with no hostilities, Genma clearly got the point. _I was a few hours late with the payment and now he wants to extort it from us personally._ It wasn't that he hated the man for doing his job, but coming to their home personally after only 4 hours that the payment was due was just…rude! Not to mention what was clearly being implied by the visit, the man didn't trust them.

The man had been taking care of the pleasantries with his wife when the mention of his name had brought his attention from his, not so friendly thoughts, back to the conversation in front of him.

"Genma-dear, Tanaka-san would like to talk to you about the rent payment" His wife nervously attempted to get his attention without betraying the humiliation she was feeling at the moment.

He was just about to tell the man if they could pay him sometime later due to a family emergency when Nodoka spoke, "Ah Tanaka-san! If this is about the rent payment we are sorry we couldn't give it to you early today, but we had sort of an emergency...Give me one second and I'll bring it downstairs for you." She had obviously caught on by Genma's look on his face that he hadn't thought to save even a _little_ bit of money to pay the rent so instead of letting him humiliate the both of them she had once again taken the initiative and prevented him from embarrassing the both of them.

With a flushed face that she couldn't quite hide, she rushed up the stairs and likely into the master bedroom.

Genma gave his wife's retreating back a confused look before turning his attention to his guest. As far as he knew he had used almost all their savings for their supplies and the remainder was definitely not enough to cover the rent payment.

An awkward silence fell between the two men as they both waited for Nodoka to return.

Being the professional he was, the landlord tried to make small talk with his client, "So Saotome-san, I heard the good news from your wife that your son just turned 2 a few days ago, congratulations!" It was an obvious attempt to try and make conversation, but it was better than the awkward silence.

Genma may have been clueless when it came to social settings, but even he could spot the obvious tidbit of information that his wife had just divulged to the man in an attempt to try and distract the man from his main goal of visit. He couldn't help smile at his wife's clever-quick thinking.

The landlord had seen his half-cracked smile and likely interpreted it as joy of a proud parent and gave him a smile of his own. "I know how you feel Saotome-san, it is a great joy to see them grow up before your very eyes. I remember when my little Kimiko-chan was only…" Before he could continue they both heard a rapid pounding making its way down the stairs.

Nodoka came down looking more composed instead of the nervously flushed face she had been showing only minutes ago.

"Here you go Tanaka-san, I hope that's the appropriate sum." She addressed their guest with a polite bow.

Quickly checking the contents of the envelope and counting silently to himself, he nodded and affirmative, "Thank you very much Saotome-san" he regarded Nodoka with a nod indicating that he was satisfied with the amount of money in the envelope. He turned to Genma, "I hope you both have a wonderful day." Right before he opened the door that lead to outside he glanced back at the couple, he made eye contact with Genma before giving him a pleasant smile, "Oh and remember Saotome-san. They are only young once, so cherish these few years you three have before they grow up and become distant." And with that last comment he let himself out the door.

Once he was sure that the man left Genma turned to his wife and, in a slightly hurt voice, asked, "I thought we didn't have any money left in our savings."

Nodoka quickly noticed the faint hurt expression Genma was giving her and her own expression rapidly to disdain as she spoke in an icy tone, "For your information that was money accumulated from 3 years worth of birthday money from my parents."

He would have argued about keeping money from him all these years if the situation wasn't so dire at the moment. Instead he was reminded of his recent neglect to his wife and the thought was enough to drive away any lingering thoughts of greed and money, for the moment anyway.

Taking Genma's apprehensive silence as a sign of acceptance of his failure to upkeep his duties she continued. "Tomorrow Genma, we _will_ find you a job. That was the last of the money that my family so considerately sent me. Unlike you, even after I forsake my own family in order to marry the man I loved they continue to support me. While you…you just planned to leave me out to dry." By the last part of her speech her voice began to crack with emotion once again, but she refused to burst into another teary episode, instead she slightly changed the subject, "But like I was saying, tomorrow you will have a job or so help me our marriage will be over by then. I have a few friends who should be able to help us on such a short notice…'

-.-

That had been half a year ago and although by the fourth month his wife had mellowed out considerably, he still had to prepare his own meals. She would still forbid him from having any time alone with their son and made every effort possible on her part to make sure little Ranma was with her at all times when he was at home.

That didn't mean she had neglected her own duties. She still maintained the house clean and washed his clothes, though he noticed she didn't wash his clothes with the same care she had usually shown…if the small holes his white underwear were any indication. He really hopped that it was just her being a bit careless with the bleach and not on purpose because if his whites continued to deteriorate at the rate they were he would be going to work bare underneath…

To his credit, he hadn't once complained to his wife about the cold treatment. That didn't mean he liked it, but he knew that it served as a sort of therapeutic exercise for her. So he continued to bear with the excessive torture his wife put him through.

The day long passed when he would believe that she would 'cool off' and let him back into her life just like before. But his wife proved to be the type to hold long grudges, at least when it came to their son.

_Well dwelling on it won't change anything._ After spending more time than what should have been necessary soaking in the furo he dressed in a normal pair of brown slacks and a white button up shirt and headed for the kitchen to complete the morning's ritual by fixing himself another cold breakfast. He was getting tired of eating his own crappy meals every day. It was the same thing every day, cold cereal, plain cup of noodles, butter toast, more cereal, and other microwaveable instant foods. After months of the same thing he was starting to become desensitized to food altogether, like his taste buds just didn't want to deal with the same thing repeatedly and just decided to turn off.

He was so caught up in his depressive thoughts that he hadn't noticed the delicious aroma that permeated the halls. Normally he was well aware of his surroundings and especially when it came to food, so the smell of steaming rice alone should have tipped him off that something was going on in the kitchen.

His inability to notice that something was going on in the kitchen could probably have been attributed to the fact that he had skipped his daily morning workout and lacked the self-awareness that came from having your body flooded with endorphins by a morning of intense and exhilarating workout. He had skipped his morning workout that day because he had not woken up to his first alarm at 6AM and would not have had time to really get the blood pumping.

Even as the enticing smells promising delicious food plead for his attention, he walked into the kitchen clueless as to what was happening.

It wasn't until he almost ran right into his wife attending to a boiling pot by the stove that he finally noticed that something was off about his usual morning.

"No-Nodoka! What are doing here?" From looking around it was quite _obvious_ what she was doing in the kitchen, but not knowing what else to say at the moment he went with the obvious.

Nodoka had been tending to one of her many pots she was using to prepare a surprise breakfast for her husband when she was startled by his question as she hadn't heard him enter the kitchen. "Why, breakfast of course! Sit down, breakfast will be ready in a moment." Her greeting was delivered in an overly cheery fashion that instantly set off alarms in Genma's head.

Without anything to suggest that his wife was going to lay the smack down on him for whatever reason she would deem necessary, he chose to keep his mouth shut and follow instructions. There was no evidence of his wife doing anything that would bring great bodily harm to him at the moment so he chose to sit quietly and wait.

As he waited patiently, he pondered on what could have happened to change her, almost outright hostile, indifferent demeanor towards him that had become the norm these past few months. Not that he was complaining of course, he would play along like a good dutiful husband and hopefully get some of steamed fish he smelled. He was still suspicious of her sudden change in attitude toward him, but unless she planned to poison him with one last meal he couldn't sense anything malevolent from her activities. Even if she _did_ plan on killing him by poison, it would almost be a godsend at this point. The constant tension in the house and the indifference she treated him, coupled with the probation and the absence of his son in his life was starting to wear him down to the point where he almost welcomed death as an easy way out.

He continued to stare at his wife's back while she worked her magic in the kitchen. That brought pleasant memories, like when they had just been married 3 years ago. She would always prepare him his meals with so much care and love that you'd think she was an artisan working on her next masterpiece. She would never deny him his unspoken 'right' to a meal, regardless of the time, place, and/or if he had already had a hearty meal. Even her food used to show just how much love she put into it, as all her food was delicious, _more so than the average restaurant_, he thought.

Sadly, that made him think of what he had thrown away recently in the name of training. Quickly derailed that thought train. There was no need to dwell in his recent mistakes, he realized his error, he was sorry, he had tried correcting it, but it seemed for naught.

Sitting in his assigned seat and staring at his wife's back, he once again tried to put a reason behind her 180. Sure they weren't exactly fighting openly anymore, but by far were they getting along either. Their relationship for the past few months could be described as a mutual interest. It kind of felt like the only reason they even lived under the same roof was because it was expected of them, and out of convenience. The love and affection that they used to parade around their friends and associates had dried up.

Before he could pursue his depressing thoughts further the sound of his wife approaching the table demanded his immediate attention.

Nodoka was nearing the table with two plates in each hand when she saw her husband get up, obviously to help her. "No need for that dear, today is a special day so just sit back and enjoy the service because it will not be every day." She gave the last part with a bright smile that contradicted what she said a moment ago.

"It's no bother to me, but if you say so." Without any other excuse to be up, he let himself fall back into his seat. He rolled that last part in his head a bit. _What's so special about today?_

He spared a quick glance at the calendar stuck to the refrigerator's door as he raked his brain for any special significance that the day might have. _March 27…what's so special about today?_ As he went through his mental check he felt something push against his chest, a quick glance told him that the table was ready and that his wife had pushed the last plates, which were his, in front of him.

Having finished preparing the table she took her seat and turned to study her husband. He had a pensive look and was staring at the table with a glazed look as if thinking really deeply about the wonders of the world. She had a vague feeling he didn't know the significance of the current date and her cheerful smile that she had genuinely put on dropped a bit into a frown. She waited patiently for a few moments to see if he would snap out of his own thoughts and acknowledge the situation before him.

Sensing that the atmosphere around him changed subtlety he looked up from his fixed stare to his wife and caught her frown. Not knowing what else to say as he had not yet pinned down the special occurrence of the current day he once again went with the obvious, "You really outdid yourself this time Nodoka! But what's the occasion?"

Even the deliciously prepared food in front of him did not cause him to lose focus on the, at the moment, more important task of not neglecting his wife. The last thing he needed was to add more fuel to the already burning fire.

_He forgot…_As soon as he opened his first words were out she had pretty much assumed that he had forgotten that that very day was the day they were married. After his question it only solidified her assumption. Trying hard not to let her irritation carry over her voice she explained, "Today, dear husband, was the day we had our wedding ceremony 3 years ago. I prepared breakfast as both a token of my forgiveness for your recent…mistake…and to celebrate our anniversary."

_Of course! The anniversary! Oh no…I didn't get her a present!_ If it was one thing Genma was good at other than martial arts, it was lying. Deciding to play it cool and go with the flow he responded with what he hopped was a solemn tone, "O-of course I remember No-ch-Nodoka…it's just that since we haven't been in good terms lately, well I thought you wouldn't care for what today was. I knew _exactly_ what day it was and I even bought you a small present, but I didn't think you would want it because…well…you know…" He was lying through his teeth of course, but he was counting on both her naivety and the fact that he could play the dutiful husband part well.

Maybe it was just that a part of her wanted to go back to living like a happy family, or she was just tired of fighting. Whatever the reason was she nodded once and her earlier infectious smile returned, "I believe you dear, it _is_ our anniversary after all how could you forget that right? But that isn't the only reason I prepared breakfast this morning though."

She took a moment to mentally recite what she was about to announce, she knew what she wanted to say, but it was a whole different thing to actually say what was on her mind, especially something as important as what she had planned. "Genma, you have been working hard to redeem yourself and admire that. Even though I have not been the ideal wife these past few months…I want you to know that I do appreciate what you have done for us…I…"

Her voice was cracking with emotion and she looked about ready to burst into tears. Just as Genma opened his mouth to say something she put her hand up to stall him. "Give me a moment please…"

After taking another few seconds to compose herself she looked up, "I haven not been the wife I should have been, but you have to understand that what you did was wrong and I could not allow you to take our only child away from me. You have continued to do your part as a esteemed husband even through the hard times, and all I have done is be cold to you and distance you from both me and your son, but I want you to know that I am willing to give you another chance…We don't have to keep going on the way we are now, we could go back to the way we were when we just married…I want to love and be loved by the man I _fell in love_ with." _There I said it!_

For his part, he was speechless. Not that he didn't have anything to say to her of course, but he was caught in one of those rare moments where his throat just completely abandoned him and all he felt was a persistent hard lump in it that no matter how hard he tried he couldn't swallow and prevented him from forming any words. He at least tried to smile, even if it did come as a forced one with tears streaking down his cheeks.

After a few seconds on continuous crying on both their parts he knew the tears weren't going to stop anytime soon and he sure as hell wasn't going to be able to eat while crying. So he stood up and went over to the other side and embraced her for the first time in months. The act alone seemed to have broken any control Nodoka had retained while she watched her husband's reaction and her own dam broke.

The two cried in each other's embrace for what felt to then like hours, but a quick glance at the kitchen clock would reveal that it had only been a couple of minutes.

Nodoka was the first to talk after a while of silent tears. "You should eat, the food is getting cold and you will be late for work…" She gave him a bright smile, which would have looked great if it wasn't marred by the streaks of dried tears and red puffy eyes from crying.

He quickly recovered his composure and kissed her full on the lips for the first time in what must have been ages. At first it was a slow and hesitant kiss and when he didn't get a reaction from her right away he feared that he had just pushed his luck too far. He feared that maybe it hadn't been a good idea to think that it was alright to start showing affection right away after what must have taken a lot out of her emotionally.

Thankfully his fears were put down soon enough when she not only started kissing back, but actually encouraged him if the hands pushing him forward behind his head were any indication.

As the kiss broke up and they parted, Nodoka restated, "Really dear you are going to be late."

Reluctantly Genma retreated back into his own seat across the small round table. He looked at the food for the first time and noted that it was all his favorite items. His mouth watered at the sight, not only did his wife prepare all his favorite food, but she had obviously prepared _a lot_.

He looked at the clock and it read 7:42 a.m. That only left him with 18 minutes to finish breakfast travel the three miles to work. It would be close, but he wasn't going to miss out on his wife's first home-cooked break in god knew how long. He would have liked to take his time and savor every item, but alas, time would not permit. A glance at his wife told him that she had pretty much calmed down from all the drama and was eating calmly while being all smiles and studying him.

"I would really like to stay and savor your excellent No…" He wasn't sure if he was allowed to go back to his old pet name 'No-chan' quite yet, and he really wasn't going to risk pushing his luck at the moment so instead he continued using her name, "…Nodoka, but I only have 15 minutes to get to work." And with that he dug into his breakfast like a wild animal that had been starved for days. He spared no item on the table, with the exception of his wife's side. Even while power-eating he could _still_ savor some of the delicious tastes. It was almost enough to bring a new wave of tears upon him, _almost._

Quickly looking at the clock once he finished he noted that he had less than 10 minutes to cover a considerable distance to work. He downed the drink that had been set to his right to wash down the food and nearly drowned himself from gasping while the liquid poured down his throat. He was caught in a coughing fit as he clutched his throat as if trying to strangle himself. His throat was on _fire_! It felt like someone had poured molten lava down his throat with a sewer pipe to boot. Every breath he managed to gasp sent a wave of burning hot air out his mouth and nostrils. The gasp from the shock was enough to send him into a coughing fit and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't seem to take in enough oxygen.

Nodoka quickly moved from her seat to her husband's back rubbing his back in hopes that that would stop the coughing fit even though she didn't know herself quite how rubbing his back would help.

Still lightly coughing, Genma wheezed, "You should have told me you served sake!"

Relieved that her husband was going to be alright she smiled sweetly and countered, "Genma dear how else are special occasions celebrated if not with alcohol?" Of course it was a rhetorical question and she didn't expect an answer.

Finally Genma recovered enough to send a mock glare at his wife before going to the sink and getting a glass of water to down the unwelcomed aftertaste of alcohol.

In any other circumstance he would have welcomed the alcoholic beverage, but he couldn't possibly show up to work with a breadth smelling of alcohol, that would just be asking for trouble…

He prided himself in the ability to consume large quantities of alcohol and although he could have easily downed several glasses of sake with no problem, he had been caught off guard. Not to mention that he had drained the glass as if it had been water, he _had been expecting_ water not sake to begin with and any beverage with an alcoholic concentration such as sake needed to be taken in moderate sips.

Fully recovered he looked back at Nodoka and saw the guilty concerned look on her face. He reacted quickly, wary as not to damage fragile bond they had reformed after the past few months, "It's ok Nodoka, look I'm fine now! See?" He pumped his arm as to show muscle.

Nodoka nodded in acceptance and inclined her head to the clock.

He turned his head and noticed the time. Quickly he took his wife's hands in his and gave her a quick peck on the lips before exclaiming, "Well I would love to stay and play catch up, but I'm going to be late!"

He sped out the door and barely registered the "Take care!" from his wife as he raced to work.

The fastest way of travel he could think of to get to the warehouse district was via rooftop so he jumped onto their neighbor's roof and shot away like a speeding subway.

-.-

Two weeks went by after their reacquaintance and things were looking good for Genma. He immediately saw more action from his wife, which he guessed was his wife's repressed libido finally breaking out for the first time in months. She allowed him quality time with his son, and though she always maintained a close eye on them he was just glad that he could finally interact with son again. He didn't dare do anything that would raise suspicion with his wife nor that she would disapprove of.

-.-

It took another few months before he worked up the courage to ask his wife about the remote idea of a training trip. She had frowned at the idea and vehemently tried to dissuade him from even thinking of taking him on any training journey. In the end though they settled for 'home training' Ranma until he was at least 5 years old and then everywhere they went _she_ would go as well. Genma didn't like the idea of putting off his son's training for so long, but his wife's word was final and in no way did he dare repeat the previous events of last time.

In reality, after careful consideration, he had to admit that his wife did have a point.

Just how much could he possibly teach the boy at two years-old? That was assuming he could even keep Ranma's attention on him long enough to even get a lesson done.

So in the end the conditions and terms of the training journey were agreed upon. The first condition was that until Ranma was at least 5 years of age all his training would be done at home. The second condition was, anywhere he and Ranma went so did she. The third condition stated that Ranma's education would not suffer due to training and time _would _be made for his studies one way or another. That last condition he thought was easy enough to circumvent…

-.-

It was a few weeks after Ranma's birthday when the little boy heard his parents arguing. Lately that's all he would hear from them for the past few weeks. He was currently practicing one of the stances his father had taught him. He didn't exactly know what he was doing, but just mimicking his father would get him acknowledgement and praise from his father so he practiced them anyway, it also encouraged him that when he did them around other kids his age at the park they would 'ooh' and 'ah' him and look pretty impressed.

One day he noticed that the arguing had stopped and that his parents both seemed to be talking to each other again. Then they had approached him and told him that they were going on a trip. He had guessed at least that much from the luggage packs and supplies that were all neatly packed in the living room. Most of their furniture had been sold off in the past few weeks and now the place looked barren. At first he had thought that they were going poor and asked his mother, but she assured him that it was all for a special cause and they wouldn't need them anymore.

Being the naïve little boy he was, he believed his parents and didn't pay any more attention to their funny activities. After all, his parents knew what they were doing…

-.-

It was finally time to leave, the now empty, home behind. It had been Nodoka's idea to slowly sell their un-needed belongings off for extra money. That included almost _all_ their belongings except for a few articles of clothing for each of them and necessities such as food.

They had also sold their home for a nice sum, but instead of having that money at hand like Genma had thought they agreed on Nodoka had locked it away in a separate bank account that only she could access.

When asked why she did it she stated that her family would manage the money for them while they toured the world. She would not elaborate any further and Genma knew when not to push the subject.

"So dear, where do you plan to visit first?" Nodoka asked as they walked out the property for the last time.

Genma knew_ exactly _where he wanted to go. He had planned the trip well in advance and had a complete map of where they would be going for the next several years. "Oh I heard that Osaka has a few martial arts masters that are willing to take young disciples…"

Notes: I didn't mean for this story to be so angsty and I _promise_ this will be the last chapter like this for a while! The 'humor' tag is there for a reason afterall…

Personal Note: I am sincerely sorry it took so long bust this one out, but I was not counting on being overwhelmed with family in thanksgiving, finals, and then visiting family on the last two weeks of December. My warmest apologies to those who constantly showed their interest (in my sorry excuse of a story) for continually promising an earlier release.™


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